


The Memory of Your Touch

by Musetotheworld



Series: SuperCat Week 4 [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 14:01:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20836667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musetotheworld/pseuds/Musetotheworld
Summary: It's only a small cut in her side, why is everyone looking at her like that? And who is the woman standing next to Alex?





	The Memory of Your Touch

"No, I will not calm down! That monster was after CatCo, so someone better find my wife and get her here now. I'll calm down once I know she's safe."

Kara knows she's being a little irrational, but she can't bring herself to care. Not when the memory of a twenty-foot thing crawling up the side of CatCo is all she sees every time she closes her eyes.

She'd stopped it, of course, but far too close to Cat's balcony for comfort. So until someone brings Cat to the DEO and Kara has proof she's worrying for nothing, relaxing can wait. And so can whatever treatment they want to throw at her. The wound doesn't even hurt that much. She's had far, far worse over the years.

"Kara, they're bringing her here as fast as they can," Alex promises, pressing a hand on Kara's shoulder in an attempt to make her lay back. "Right now, we need to worry about you. You're still bleeding, and I can't see any healing in this gash at all. If there's something in the wound, whether a weapon fragment or some kind of secretion that's limiting your healing abilities, we need to know."

Knowing Alex has a point, Kara reluctantly lets herself be guided back to the exam table. Perching on the edge, she gives her sister a challenging look. She knows Alex wants her to lay back so the wound in her side can be properly examined, but this will work. She can't see out the window when she's laying down, so Alex will have to deal.

"God, you're stubborn," Alex mutters as she takes a cotton swab to the blood staining Kara's suit. "Laying down means it takes three seconds more before you can see Cat, not ten minutes."

"Like you'd be any different if it were Astra," Kara argues, wincing a little as Alex does something that stings. "Or her, if it were you."

"I get it, stubborn runs in the family. And so does stupid risks, apparently."

Kara doesn't argue that one, knowing she won't win. She never does, not against Alex and not against Cat. She already knows she's in for a lecture or ten when Cat finally arrives.

"Well, I don't see any weapon or biological fragments, which means it has to be a secretion of some kind," Alex says eventually, wiping at the gash again. "We might need to try stitching this if you keep losing blood."

Kara looks down with a wince at the thought, knowing that means either a red sun lamp or Kryptonite tipped needles. With not knowing how removing her powers will affect her health against an unknown chemical, the needles are more likely. She's not looking forward to that, even knowing it'll be temporary.

Because she's looking down, she misses the moment the door opens. She doesn't miss the frightened "Kara" that rings out through the room and startles her from the inspection.

Looking up just in time to see blonde hair rushing at her, Kara barely manages to brace herself against the impact. "You idiot, why the hell would you fly straight at that thing like that?"

"I- I'm sorry?" Kara says, still struggling to keep her balance as the wound in her side starts stinging again. "It needed to be stopped, so I stopped it."

"In the most idiotic way possible. Alex said you're still bleeding from the swipe it took at you."

"Yeah, um, we're going to get it cleaned up, once Alex has a chance to finish looking at it." The words do what they're intended, and suddenly Kara's arms are empty, and Alex can get back to the samples she's taking. "But I have to ask, why is Alex discussing my medical treatments with you?"

Kara can tell the moment everyone stops, looking at her in shock. Why she doesn't know. It seems like a perfectly reasonable question to her. Come to think of it, how does this woman know her name at all?

"Kara, you okay there?" Alex asks, taping a gauze pad to Kara's side so she can grab an exam light and shine in her eyes. "Are you lightheaded at all?"

"No, the only thing wrong with me is the cut in my side you were just bandaging," Kara says, leaning away from the light. She hates that thing when she still has her powers. It's too bright, no matter how she tries to pull her powers back.

"Alex, what the hell is going on?" the woman from earlier snaps, near vibrating with tension. "Why does it seem like Kara doesn't know me?"

"Maybe because I don't?" Kara breaks in, annoyed that the woman is acting like she isn't there. She has a cut on her side, not a head injury.

"Cat, let me run some tests, okay?" Alex says, trying to smooth over the tension in the room.

"What the hell kind of tests can you run to tell me why my wife suddenly doesn't recognize me?" The woman, Cat apparently, says as she loses the battle to remain still and begins pacing.

"Hey, don't talk to my sister like that!" Kara says, going to stand up and give Cat a piece of her mind before Alex pushes her back.

Once she settles back to the table, the rest of Cat's words sink in, and she looks at Alex in shock. "Wait, wife? What the hell, Alex?"

"Kara, I will explain everything about Cat, but you'll have to let me run some tests to find answers to the physical stuff, okay? And Cat, I promise I'll find an answer for this. You just have to trust me." Alex sounds as confident as she always does, and Kara desperately wants to trust her.

"Yeah, I'd like to know how I supposedly forgot an entire wife," Kara agrees, noticing Cat wince out of the corner of her eye. "Is it one per blow, or is this a first time for everything type of situation?"

"I'm going to call Carter," Cat breaks in, face blank in a way Kara somehow knows masks deep pain. "Let me know if you find anything, okay, Alex?"

Without waiting for agreement, she leaves the room, and Alex goes back to examining Kara. "You know, you could be nicer to her, even if you don't remember," she says accusingly as she pulls the hastily applied gauze away."

"Nicer to who?" Kara says, wincing as the tape pulls at the edge of her wound. "And why the hell isn't Cat here yet? You said the agents had her on the way."

"Kara, Cat was just in here," Alex says slowly, pulling back from her examination. "You don't remember that?"

"No, all I remember is you promising she'd be here in a minute and insisting you needed to look at this gash. What else am I supposed to remember?"

"Dr. Hamilton, I'm going to need a consult," Alex calls through the door to the main medical center rather than answering. 

It should be frightening, but Kara's mostly just annoyed she's not getting answers. And doubly annoyed Cat still isn't here. She trusts Alex not to lie to her, but that doesn't ease the panic in her gut that's building the longer it takes to see her wife. Today was too close a call, she needs to know Cat is alright.

"What can I help with?" Dr. Hamilton says as she walks in, and Alex starts talking before Kara can jump in with a suggestion of her own.

"Intermittent and localized amnesia apparently caused and eased by Cat's presence near Kara."

"Alex, what the hell are you talking about?" Kara interjects, tired of sitting quietly with no idea what's going on. "I haven't forgotten anything, I just want my wife."

"Cat was here not even five minutes ago," Alex explains, looking between Kara and Dr. Hamilton as she explains. "Kara didn't recognize her, and when she left immediately started asking when she'd be here."

"Any signs of head trauma?"

"No, no bumps or scrapes on the initial exam, and her pupils reacted normally when I tested dilation. She even pushed the light away the same way she always does."

"And where is Cat now?" Dr. Hamilton asks, performing her own check as Kara fights the urge to push her away.

"Said she was going to call Carter, but I think she needed a moment to gather herself. Kara here was a little snippy with her."

Gasping in outrage, Kara pushes up and off the table and crosses her arms across her chest. "Alex Danvers, I don't know what the hell is going on here, but you and I both know I wouldn't be snippy with Cat right now. I could never, not when I know she was probably terrified."

"You insinuated you forgot a different wife every time an enemy got in a good hit," Alex says, shocking Kara silent. "So yeah, you got a little snippy with her."

"Alex, would you go find Cat while I do an exam of my own?" Dr. Hamilton asks, defusing the situation with her usual calm manner. "We may need her to come back in so we can run tests in a controlled manner. We should also get blood samples for testing, perhaps whatever secretion is stopping Kara's healing has also affected her memory and recall."

Alex nods and heads for the door, and Kara settles back for another round of tests with a wince. "Alex?" she calls when her sister is almost out of the room, deciding that even if she doesn't know what's going on, she can still trust her sister wouldn't lie to her. "Tell Cat I love her? I'll tell her again when we figure this out, but if I hurt her… I need her to know, okay?"

"She knows," Alex says, "but I'll tell her for you anyway."

With that out of the way she finishes leaving, and Kara turns to Dr. Hamilton and whatever tests she wants to run. The sooner they figure this out, the better.

***

Cat's pacing Alex's office when the agent finally tracks her down. It's the quietest place in the DEO building, not often used for anything but storage. Which means it's the best place for her to think while working out some nervous energy.

"We think it's something to do with the attack," Alex says from the doorway, watching from a distance as Cat continues to move. She knows better than to interrupt Cat when she's like this. "Dr. Hamilton is running some tests, and we're waiting on some lab work for a better idea of what we're dealing with."

"Well that all sounds promising, but it doesn't do much to help my wife remember who I am, now does it?" Cat snaps out, knowing Alex doesn't deserve it but unable to resist the easy blow.

To her credit, Alex doesn't even flinch at the venom in Cat's voice. They've come a long way from their rough start, and Alex is probably the one person who understands Cat's moods almost as well as Kara. It should be comforting, but when the memory of such a blank look in Kara's eyes is still so recent, it's almost too much.

She'd never been this open with anyone before Kara came crashing into her life. She'd never let people see her vulnerabilities or heart. She kept people at a distance, knowing it was safer that way.

Kara had changed all of that. She'd slowly but surely gotten Cat to open up. Not just to her, but to an entire set of extended family and friends. But even amongst the people Cat now counted herself lucky to have in her life, Alex was the one who knew Cat best. The one who was most often at Kara's side with her, watching the stubborn hero recover. Who struggled with the same overprotective emotions as Cat, every time Kara was hurt.

"She does remember you. The memories are there, they're just blocked somehow. We'll fix this, Cat."

"I don't have time for empty platitudes," Cat says, pushing away the hope with ruthless pragmatism. Hope is Kara's thing, not hers. "You can promise she still remembers, but that doesn't help much when she looked at me like I'm a stranger."

"Maybe not, but the second you were out of the room she was asking for her wife," Alex says, staying calm even when Cat whirls to face her. "The memories are there, Cat. She nearly swung at me when I told her she got snippy with you. Insisted she could never do that."

"Then how the hell did she not recognize me when I stood in front of her?" Cat asks, struggling to wrap her mind around everything.

"That's what we're working on finding out," Alex says, finally stepping into the room and to Cat's side. "But she remembers you, Cat. She told me to tell you she loves you, and that she'd tell you herself when we fix this."

Cat lets out a small sob at the words, recognizing the underlying hope that's so very Kara. She still remembers, which means there's still hope.

Alex's phone rings before Cat can regain control, and the agent thoughtfully turns to answer it, giving Cat a moment. The low murmur of voices is indistinct but somehow calming as Alex handles whatever new development has come up.

"That was Astra. She's patrolling for Kara until we figure out what's going on. Doesn't have any idea what could've caused this, unfortunately."

Cat nods, understanding the importance of having someone patrolling lest criminals take advantage of Supergirl's absence. Even without unexplained memory issues that warrant more observation, there's still a bleeding gash in her side to address. And speaking of…

"How long will your tests on the side wound take?" Cat asks, rocking on her heels as she tries to hide her dread at the answer.

"Supergirl's health is lab priority, you know that. So it'll depend on how quickly we can run the tests, and how much they tell us. The first results should be back soon, and we'll go from there. It could be as simple as giving her something to counteract whatever is keeping the wound open, or as complicated as developing and synthesizing a stabilizing compound. Astra and Kal-El are already on hand if we need blood transfusions, and stitches are a possibility if we can't keep bleeding under control."

That's the good thing about Alex, Cat thinks as she nods. She'll always give Cat the truth, no matter how painful it is. She knows happy platitudes are worse than knowing exactly what's going on. It's appreciated, if also more painful than Cat thinks is fair. Loving Kara is worth the pain, will always be worth the pain, but that doesn't make this part any easier.

Swallowing her need to be at Kara's side, Cat nods her understanding. "Let me know if I can do anything?"

"I will. It might not be easy on you, though," Alex says seriously as she steps closer to Cat. "If we can't get a handle on what's causing this, we might need more data."

"You might need me back in the room," Cat realizes. "If she only forgets when I'm there, you'll need me to recreate whatever's happening."

Alex nods, her expression saying she knows how hard this is.

And it is hard. It's painful, and difficult, and if it helps Kara recover, then Cat will march up there right now and stand as her wife stares at her in blank suspicion for hours. Whatever it takes, Cat will do it. Because Kara would do the same for her.

"Is there somewhere closer I can wait without being interrupted by your incessant security patrols every five minutes?" Cat asks, suddenly feeling the need to get out of this office. It's a welcome haven of peace when she's overwhelmed, but it's too far from the med bay. Two levels up and across the building, if something goes right (or wrong, but she's not thinking about that), it'll take too long to get to Kara's side.

"There's a conference room attached to my lab, I'll block it off for you," Alex offers, shooting Cat a wry grin in understanding. "And I promise, Cat. I will personally run every test necessary to find out what's going on, if that's what it takes. We'll get your wife back to you."

***

It takes Alex far too long to return. Dr. Hamilton won't answer any of Kara's questions, just hums to herself quietly as she studies computer printouts of Kara's results. It's aggravating, and Kara's about to throw a cotton ball at her back when she sees Alex walk past the medbay window.

"When did we start letting civilians into the DEO?" she asks when she sees the smaller woman next to her sister. She still remembers the fights to allow James and Winn inside, and this woman looks far more fragile than either of them. If there's an incident, she could be hurt without anyone ever noticing.

"Oh, we have a few on the list," Dr. Hamilton answers, swinging around to face Kara with another of those annoying hums. "You don't remember seeing her around?"

There's something in her tone, some hint Kara is missing. But no matter how she studies the woman, she can't figure it out and eventually shrugs, putting it out of her mind. "No, I'm pretty sure I'd remember seeing someone like her anywhere, let alone in the DEO."

"Well, that's the hope," Dr. Hamilton says as she refocuses on her test results.

Kara stares at her for a moment, trying to figure out what that means. She remembers now why she usually hates anyone but Alex looking after her when she's hurt. Alex will at least answer her questions. Dr. Hamilton and the others usually wait until Alex can do it for them.

Thankfully she doesn't have to wait too long for her sister to show up. It's only a few minutes after watching Alex walk past before she's back in the room.

"Kara didn't recognize her as you guys walked past," Dr. Hamilton says as Alex enters, passing the test result printouts over. "Not even from earlier today."

"So it's a complete blank," Alex mutters, studying the papers, "not a separate and conditional awareness."

"Alex, what are you guys talking about?" Kara pleads, desperate for some answers. "And where is Cat? It's been forever, she should've been here by now."

"Was she asking about Cat while I was gone?" Alex asks, ignoring Kara for the moment.

"No, she remembered the earlier conversation until she saw you two walk by the window."

"Hello, I'm still here," Kara tries. Not knowing what they're talking about is going to drive her crazy, and it won't be a pretty sight. "What's wrong with me, who forgot what, and where is my wife?"

Alex and Dr. Hamilton exchange a look, seeming to decide something after a moment of wordless conversation. "There's something elevated in her blood count, I think we have a serum that'll counteract it. Will you fetch reagent sample 5-E while I answer her questions?"

Dr. Hamilton is perfectly happy to escape the room, Kara notices as she waits for Alex to finally tell her what's going on. 

"Kara, you've seen Cat twice since we brought you in," Alex explains after a moment to gather her thoughts. "You didn't recognize her either time. And each time you see her, you forget every time you've seen or talked about her before."

Kara sits in shock as Alex finishes, trying to process the information. "That's impossible. I'd never forget Cat. How is that even possible?"

Alex sighs, rubbing her head the way she does when a headache is coming on. "I should take notes in case I have to explain this yet again. We think there's something in your side wound that causes the memory lapse in addition to you not remembering Cat. The reagent Dr. Hamilton just went to grab should get your bleeding under control, and then we'll bring Cat in to see if it helps the memory as well. If not, we'll run more tests until we figure out what's going on."

The silence in the lab presses against Kara with an almost physical weight as she fights to keep her emotions under control. Forget Cat? How could she ever do something like that? And what did seeing her that way do to her wife? How much did Kara hurt her, all without even knowing?

She'd almost think it was a joke, some cruel trick Alex is playing on her, but she can see the pain in her sister's face. And Alex would never lie to her about this.

Thankfully Kara doesn't have to answer, Dr. Hamilton returning with the requested vial before it's necessary. The application is quick and mostly painless, Kara only letting out a slight hiss at the sting in her side as Alex dabs it on.

"It's bubbling," Dr. Hamilton says in surprise, leaning closer with a mask to study the reaction. "There's definitely some healing going on, I can see Kara's skin beginning to regenerate along the edges of the wound path."

"Good, as much blood as she's been losing I was afraid we'd need a transfusion after all," Alex says, reapplying another layer as Kara begins to heal faster. "You'll still have to take it easy for a day or so to fully recuperate, but I think we stopped the bleeding in time to avoid needing more than rest."

"Does that mean I can see Cat?" Kara asks as she feels the last of the stinging fade. "You said whatever was in the wound was probably causing the memory issues, right?"

Alex hesitates before answering, wiping at Kara's skin one last time to be thorough. "That's our best guess, but I can't make any promises, Kara. We'll bring Cat in, and hopefully everything will be fine, but if not I promise I'll figure it out."

"You should prep her, first," Kara says, heart clenching with every word. She can't imagine not recognizing her wife, doesn't know what it will do to Cat. But she does know she needs to be prepared in case it didn't work. "Make sure she knows I love her."

"You gave me that message last time too," Alex says with a small grin. "Don't worry, I'll tell her again. And soon enough, you can tell her yourself."

With that she's out of the room and heading for Cat, leaving Kara to wait. Shivering slightly as her body adapts to the freshly healed wound and not quite complete recovery, she swings her legs and looks down at her hands. Normally she'd be watching through the window for the first sign of Cat, but after hearing Alex explain she'd forgotten her wife twice now, she's afraid. What if something else is wrong?

"Hey, Kara. I brought you a visitor."

Looking up, Kara's puzzled to see a petite woman standing next to her sister. "I didn't realize the DEO had a candy striper program, is that new?"

She doesn't miss the way the woman grasps at Alex's arm, or the familiarity between them. This is someone Alex knows and knows well, but Kara's never seen her before.

"She's here to help with a few tests we need to run," Alex says, covering the hand on her arm with one of her own. "This is Cat, she's going to sit with us for a moment while Dr. Hamilton and I run some tests."

"What tests, what's going on?" Kara asks quickly, noticing the buried tension in her sister's frame. "I thought it was just the side wound, and you treated that already."

"No, we think you might've hit your head or been affected by something else from the alien," Alex says, pushing Cat towards a chair near Kara's exam table. "You two sit tight for a moment, I'm going to get Dr. Hamilton and be right back."

With that she's gone, leaving Kara alone with a stranger who seems strangely hesitant to take the offered seat. And whoever she is, she's dressed far better than anyone Kara's seen at either DEO base, including the President on her visits. Not a typical sight for the organization's base.

"Are you some kind of specialist?" Kara asks after a moment of quiet once Cat finally sits. "Neurosurgeon or something equally fancy?"

"I- no," Cat says after a moment, shifting in her chair. "Nothing quite like that. I'm sure your sister will explain soon enough."

They lapse into an uncomfortable silence once again, and Kara searches for anything she can say to break through the tension. She doesn't do well with awkward breaks in conversation, especially not when she feels vulnerable like this. Some unknown issue going on in her head, her suit gaping open across her side, and Alex nowhere to be found, Kara doesn't get much more vulnerable than this.

"Do you have kids?" she asks eventually, settling on the first thing that pops into her head.

She isn't expecting the look of pain on Cat's face, and she very nearly backpedals before the woman can answer.

"I have two boys," Cat says before Kara can apologize, reaching for her phone and searching for something. "Adam, my oldest. And then Carter, who just turned 16."

With that, she shows Kara a picture of a teen boy on her phone, standing in front of a nicer car than Kara's ever driven. He looks serious though, not as wildly exuberant as Alex would've been in the same situation. More like Kara, really. Kara can tell he has the same fear of wrecking the beautiful vehicle she'd have if someone put the keys in her hands.

"He looks like a good kid," Kara says eventually, giving Cat a smile. "Responsible. Bet you aren't worried he'll go joyriding with it."

"No, we- I've raised him pretty well. He's definitely a fine young man." There's something in Cat's words, in her near slip, that stands out to Kara. But without knowing what puzzle pieces she's working with, there's no way to make the clues form a concrete image in her mind.

Alex returns before Kara can ask a follow-up question, J'onn and Dr. Hamilton close at her heels. "Okay, we're going to try something really quick. J'onn thinks he has an idea, so Cat, I need you to go back outside, wait five minutes, then come back."

Cat doesn't argue, standing from her chair and walking from the room without a word. She sends a single look over her shoulder when she reaches the doorway, one full of a strange longing Kara can't place, then walks out of sight.

"So when can I get out of here?" Kara asks when she's gone around the corner, looking between J'onn and Alex as the most likely people to answer her question.

"Soon, I think," J'onn says as he presses a button on the wall.

Metal curtains slot into place over the windows, and a red sun bulb in the ceiling turns on. Kara can feel her powers fade, and she's glad she's sitting when the fatigue from her earlier wounds and lingering blood loss hit her.

"Oh, Rao, is this necessary?" she asks as she lays down with a sigh, limbs feeling too heavy to remain upright.

"I'm afraid so. With your powers intact, I'm unable to do more than scan your mind for lingering psychic residue. This way, if I find anything, I can hopefully fix it and get you back to normal." J'onn's words are kind, and Kara trusts him enough to allow whatever he's planning. Between Alex and J'onn, she knows there's no chance of being hurt.

She doesn't flinch as he settles fingertips to her temples, just closes her eyes and clears her mind to let him work. It's hard, she'd expected Cat to show up a long time ago, but if they've called J'onn into the DEO, she knows something serious is going on. If she's patient, she'll get her answers.

The feeling of him in her mind is strange, but Kara shrugs it away. The only reason she even knows he's there is her Kryptonian physiology making her more sensitive to the sweep, and it'll be over soon enough.

"Ah, there it is," J'onn says, and suddenly Kara feels a searing pain shoot through her head as he grabs something and  _ yanks _ .

It lasts barely a second, and when it fades she shoots back up, adrenaline giving strength to her weakened limbs. "What in Rao's name was that?" she asks, reaching one hand up to make sure her head is still intact.

"You had a psychic block on your memories of Cat," J'onn says, moving to support her as she sways on the table. "I removed it. I wasn't anticipating the pain, however."

A knock on the door stops Kara from answering, and Alex hits the button to turn off the red sun lamp before opening the door. "Just in time. Let's see if that worked."

"Cat, finally!" Kara says as the door opens to reveal her wife. "They said you'd be here an hour ago, what took so long?"

Cat looks close to tears, crossing the room without a word to pull Kara into a desperate hug. "Don't you ever do that to me again, you understand me?"

"Whatever it is I did, I promise," Kara says, wrapping her arms around Cat and reveling in the feeling of her wife against her. This reaction goes far beyond a stupid risk to stop an enemy, so Kara has no problems promising. Anything that makes Cat this worried isn't worth anything.

Between the feeling of Cat in her arms and the return of the yellow sun, Kara's feeling better in seconds. Good enough to pull Cat up and into her lap, eyes narrowing when Cat allows it without even a token complaint.

"Okay, someone needs to explain what happened, because this is clearly about more than a scrape."

J'onn clears his throat, looking to Alex for a moment before starting. "The alien you fought, the one who managed to wound you, used the weakening from the secretion in the gash to gain entry to your mind. It found the object you were most desperate to protect and formed a barrier around any memories you had of it. In this case, it was Cat."

"So, I forgot my wife?" Kara says, pulling Cat closer to prove she's still there.

"Worse," Alex says with a wry grin. "You remembered her, but only when she wasn't in the room. And every time you saw her, you forgot you'd ever laid eyes on her before."

No wonder Cat is clinging so tightly, Kara realizes as she works through what that would be like. It would've been torture, and Kara silently vows to never put Cat through anything like that again.

"You even forgot Carter," Cat whispers, the words sending a chill through Kara.

Forgetting her wife was bad enough, but their son? The young man Kara's loved like her own child for years? That's a layer of pain beyond anything she could imagine.

"I'm so sorry," Kara whispers into Cat's hair, pressing kisses to the top of her head as they sit and reassure each other it's over.

They sit quietly for several moments as Dr. Hamilton excuses herself, then Alex finally breaks the silence. "You should be good to head home when you're ready, Kara. Take it easy for a day or two, no rushing off because you hear sirens. Astra's on duty until you're better, and J'onn's volunteered to step in as needed.

Smiling at her sister and J'onn, Kara nods before turning her attention back to Cat.

"So, it sounds like I'm grounded. What do you say we have a quiet night in and go to bed early?" she asks, voice dropping to a whisper.

"Only if I get to pick the movie," Cat says as she pulls back, pressing a kiss to Kara's lips before standing. "I'll have Astra swing by with a few pizzas for us, you've got to build your strength back up, and I don't feel like cooking."

"Pizza  _ and  _ a movie?" Kara teases, standing and pulling Cat close again. "Sounds like a date."

With a final wave to Alex and J'onn, and another promise to take it easy, they head for the elevator and home. The lighthearted argument about toppings helps soothe lingering pain with the familiarity, and by the time Kara's climbed into the car next to Cat, she feels almost back to normal.

It's the moments like this Kara holds most dear, and the ones she'd miss most if she ever forgot. Thankfully J'onn is around to keep that from happening, and Kara has a chance to build more and more of these memories.

And she looks forward to every one.


End file.
